A request to be quiet or call for silence. On sailing the boatswain’s pipe was used as a tool to communicate with the ship’s crew. One such signal was ‘piping down the hammocks’ which was the signal to go below decks and retire for the night. When an officer wanted a sailor to be dismissed below he would have him ‘piped down’. Possibly also used to call sailors to silence so they could hear the commands of the officers.
One of two flags reported to have been flown by Black Sam Bellamy, known as the Robin hood of pirates, by Thomas Blanket, one of the eight pirates on trial after the wreck of the Whydah in a storm. It was a flag that seems to have been common to members of the Flying Gang of Nassau and was possibly flown before Bellamy captured the Whydah. “They spread a large black Flag, with a death‘s Head and Bones a-cross.” The Trials of Eight Persons Indicted for Piracy, Boston 1718. According to the article The Pirate Ship Whydah: Pirate strategy on the Field Museum in Chicago’s website, this flag is also mentioned by Thomas Baker, one of Bellamy’s crew, although no sources is given: “…they spread a large black flag, with a Death’s Head and Bones across, and gave chase to Cap’t. Prince under the same colours.”
The popular images in film and literature of what pirates wore does not generally correspond to the reality of the period, and is usually based more on 19th century depictions. Howard Pyle drew many interpretations taken from a combination of contemporary South American dress and what 19th century seamen wore. Not a great deal is known about what pirates actually did wear as no pirates were directly painted by artists, but we can assume that most pirate crews were probably indistinguishable from other seamen of the time. Sailors clothes were known as slops and were cheap, baggy, and durable. Uniforms weren’t introduced until 1857. Jackets and trousers were often painted with pine tar to make them water resistant, giving sailors the name tars. Clothing was a much sought after and pirates would often steal it when a ship taken, so they usually wore the clothes of ordinary sailors supplemented by those stolen from more well-off victims, which were often auctioned off at the mast.…
To fall over suddenly in an uncontrolled manner. The keel is the longitudinal timber ridge along the middle of the hull to which the rest of the boat’s timbers are fixed. It acts as a counterbalance for the mast and keeps the boat stable in conditions that would otherwise cause the boat to capsize. ‘Keeled over’ referred to ships which had rolled on their side in turbulent waters and were in danger of sinking, or were laid on their side on land with their keels showing.
This flag is believed to have been flown by Ned Lowe and his consorts, Charles Harris of the 8-gun sloop the Ranger and Francis Spriggs, Lowe’s ex-quartermaster, of the schooner the Delight. Charles Harris was captured by Peter Solgard of HMS Greyhound in June 1723. Spriggs fate is uncertain, but some believe he was marooned together with Ned Lowe. “Black Ensign with a white Skeleton in the middle of it, with a Dart in One Hand striking a bleeding Heart, and in the other an Hourglass.” – Captain Johnson, A General History of the Pyrates.